Russia Proposed Belarus to Create a Single Tax, Customs and Court

During negotiations on Russian- Belarusian integration Moscow proposed to create 12 supranational bodies and a single issuing center, an audit chamber, a Union State court and a single customs authority, RBC reported. What did the 31st "map" contain At negotiations on deeper integration with Belarus, Moscow proposed starting work to create 12 supranational bodies. Among them - a single issuing center to imply the introduction of a single currency, the Accounts Chamber and the Court of the Union State, a single customs authority, a single authority for registering property of the Union State, unified tax and antitrust authorities, and a uniform regulator in the following areas: in the field of transport, industry, agriculture, communications, plus the regulator of the combined markets of gas, oil and electricity. Three sources familiar with the negotiations informed RBC. The creation of these bodies is stipulated in the last, so-called 31st “road map” for integration of the two countries. At the same time, it is not about immediately forming these bodies - it is proposed to develop “road maps” for this. What would the date be, RBC interlocutors found it difficult saying. The document also refers to the development of "road maps" regarding the joint strategy of Russia and Belarus in the field of defense, the creation of common data banks of law enforcement agencies, the unification of legislation governing the activities of law enforcement agencies and special services. However, in the summer and autumn of 2019, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko agreed to focus on discussing 30 “cards”, accept them as a package, and after that, perhaps, return to working out the 31st “card,” another interlocutor familiar with the negotiations informed RBC about integration. Now they are paused at the initiative of Minsk, he adds. RBC sent inquiries to the Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov and to the Belarusian Government press service. Lukashenko Announced “Forcing” Belarus to Integrate with Russia Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly denied that the parties are discussing the creation of supranational bodies in negotiations on deeper integration. The Russian government is trying to link the solution of economic integration problems with political and the creation of supranational bodies but there was an agreement not to negotiate this, the Belarusian president said in an interview with Ekho Moskvy on December 24 last year. The day before, it became known for the first time the 31st “road map” existed. Dmitry Medvedev, then prime minister, informed about. According to him, after completing 30 other “maps”, “it will be possible to look at the 31st “road map” dedicated to further integration, including such institutions as supranational bodies, a single currency and a single emission center.” Why negotiations stall In early March, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makey announced that Minsk sees no reason to work on the integration project until the oil differences are resolved. The parties are unable to agree on oil prices and volumes of supplies because Minsk is dissatisfied with the tax maneuver conducted in Russia since 2019, which consists in gradual and complete replacement of the export duty in proportion to the increased mineral extraction tax. Earlier, Russia sold oil to Belarus without no such duty: in December 2018, for example, it amounted to $ 135.1 per ton. Subject to the preservation of this benefit, Belarus signed an agreement to establish the Customs Union in 1995, and later agreed to join the EAEU in 2015. Therefore, Minsk is now insisting on compensation for the tax maneuver. In 2019, Belarus estimated its losses at $ 330 million, in 2020 - at $ 420-430 million. By 2024, according to its own estimates, Minsk will lose up to $ 11 billion. And after when the price of Russian oil for gets equal to the world price, will lose $ 3 billion each year. At the end of last year, the parties managed to conceptually agree on how Moscow is to compensate Minsk for the loss of export duty cancellation introducing a reverse excise tax for Belarusian refineries, that is, in fact, Russia agreed to subsidize them. The problem with this decision is that it is to work only after tax laws unification and their development will take at least two to three years. In addition, a unified tax code should be developed as part of the integration process, which is paused so far. Moscow and Minsk agree on “compensation” scheme for tax maneuver Negotiations are underway on an interim solution that will level out the consequences of the maneuver only for 2020. This is possible due to the complete abolition of the premiums that Minsk pays to Russian oil companies: for a ton of oil it is about $ 11.7, that is, $ 1.5 per barrel, sources informed RBC earlier. On March 11, the prime ministers of Russia and Belarus Mikhail Mishustin and Sergey Rumas met in Moscow. Two days later, Mishustin met with representatives of Russian oil industry. After that, several Russian companies agreed to reduce the premium from a ton by $ 7, another source informed RBC. He refused to name them saying that was a trade secret. The supply volume, the parties are negotiating about is 18 million tons by the end of 2020, he noted. However, Belarus continues to insist on the complete abolition of the award, said RBC's interlocutor: Minsk considers the current option as an interim one.